


Undertale - Black Soul

by Zivicio



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Original Character(s), POV First Person, POV Original Character, Rated For Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5875330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zivicio/pseuds/Zivicio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The underground is a place full of legends and prophecies. Surely, many of them have been forgotten...</p><p>"If the angel falls and acts without sorrow,<br/>The demon with a black heart is soon to follow."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. O n e

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning for violence?

I slipped back into consciousness slowly, my own breathing the only anchor to reality. My eyes flickered open and I blinked a few times, adjusting to the light of the sun.

_'Wait, sun?'_ I sat up to find myself on a bed of golden flowers in the middle of a cave. That's when it clicked - the climb up Mt. Ebott. With my gaze set on the one path out of the cavern, I stood up- or at least I tried to. The pain that shot through my right leg had me promptly sitting back down. After a close look and flexing my leg a few times I figured it was nothing more than a torn calf muscle, and stood back up. After walking around a little the pain dulled.

With nothing else in my way, I finally went through the path in the cave. I turned a corner and found a room similar to the one I woke up in, except there was only one flower. Not thinking anything of it, I walked on, but after a few steps I did a double take when I saw _the thing had a face_.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower. You're new to the Underground, aren't ya? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to tell you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do." I quickly adjusted to this talking flower, keeping a straight face all the way through.

"Are you ready? Here we go!" As soon as Flowey said that, I felt an odd sensation where my heart was. Looking down, I saw a small cartoonish heart, that looked like it was pulsating black. I looked back up at Flowey, who seemed taken aback by this, but he continued his monologue anyhow.

"See that heart? That is your soul, the very culmination of your being." His voice sounded slightly strained, and I saw that he seemed to be talking through his teeth.

"Your soul starts off weak, but you can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What's LV stand for? Why LOVE of course! You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" Right then, his grin turned sinister. Things that looked like white bullets surrounded me in rapid succession.

"What are you?" Flowey asked threateningly. I stared at him blankly for a moment, and a look of realization crossed his face.

"You don't even _know_ , do you? A soul like yours would be better off with me. _Die_." The white bullets started closing in at an alarming rate, and I ducked out of the way. As Flowey was summoning more bullets into existence, something that could be best described as a fireball shot out of the darkness and hit him, sending him across the room. I looked over to where the supposed fireball had come from and stood up straight, brushing dirt off one of my palms.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth." A soft voice said, followed by a goat-looking woman emerging from the darkness. Instinctively I raised my hands into fists, ready to fight this time. The goat woman smiled at me and stepped a little closer, but she was obviously trying not to seem threatening.

"Do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I come here every day to see if any humans have fallen down." 'Toriel' introduced herself, but I didn't let my guard down. I kept the same straight face as always. Toriel studied me, her eyes stopping on my soul.

"A black soul, I see. Interesting... You do not know what that means, do you?" She didn't seem to expect me to answer, and I didn't- I was waiting for the moment when she'd turn on me.

"I am not going to hurt you, my child. If I wanted to I already would've by now- plus I wouldn't have saved you from that foul beast." Before I could do anything, she continued talking; "Come along now, child. I will explain everything." Toriel turned around and started walking, waving for me to follow her. I ended up letting my fists fall despite myself, following her after I watched the little black heart return to my chest.

-

Toriel talked about how there were puzzles in the Ruins, and she showed how some of them worked. After some time observing her, I found that some of what she said seemed scripted, or like she had said it before at least. At times her smile would waiver, and it was obvious it wasn't genuine. The few times I looked directly at her and was able to see her eyes I saw sadness and pain. But I didn't say anything.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Toriel said something else, but her voice had dissolved into a mumble and I wasn't able to hear anything other than something about another human. We came to a house, and Toriel walked inside, holding the door for me. Toriel ushered me to a table where she sat down across from me, and she smiled patiently.

"I'm sure that flower told you what a soul is, as he usually does, but I'll explain everything in further detail. Every being has a soul, monster or human. However, human souls are more powerful than monster souls. Sometimes, special humans will have a colored soul. Red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, and purple are the soul colors seen the most in humans. But a long time ago, there was a legend about a human with a black soul. A black soul has never been seen before, in any human or any monster. It is said that the human with the black soul has powers like no other. Here, take my hand."

Toriel extended a thick white paw, which was very similar in shape to a human hand despite it's animalistic features. Tentatively, I reached across the table and slipped my hand into hers. As soon as I did I was pulled out of reality. I closed my eyes in the real world and seemed to reopen them, but in a different place. Looking around there were many small pictures that were connected with thin lines; they lined up one after another. When I tried to move I couldn't; it felt like I was suspended in air. The only thing I could move were my arms. When I moved an arm the picture nearest my hand got slightly larger than the others. Furrowing my eyebrows I moved my hand higher up, eventually to the top left corner where the first picture was. Looking at the picture I could see Toriel's home, and myself. I pushed my hand forward slightly hoping that that would make a selection, and it worked. In a second I found myself watching the last interaction Toriel had with me, talking to me at the table. I found I was able to go farther back, and I realized that these scenes were her memories. I felt a twinge of guilt and then was able to bring myself back to the real world. Upon opening my eyes I found that I was exactly where I had been when I closed them, holding Toriel's hand from across the table.

"How much did you see?" Toriel smiled as I gently pulled my hand away. I shook my head.

"Not much." Toriel acted like my first words to her wasn't a big deal, rather she smiled as if to tell me to continue. "It felt wrong to go through your mind- anything you tell me about yourself should be when you're comfortable with doing so."

Toriel grinned, "That's very humble of you, my child." Toriel explained more about the abilities I have with my soul, and she explained more of the basics of souls. She also explained that there was another human that fell down a few days before me.

I ended up spending more time than I wanted under Toriel's care; when she learned about my injured leg she insisted I stay and let it heal, and in that time she helped me familiarize myself with my newfound ability. Not only was I able to enter someone's memories with physical contact, once I was inside their memories I was actually able to alter them; essentially giving me the power to change reality, as anything I changed in someone's memory pertained to real life as well. After that I learned I could enter someone's memories by touching an object of significance to them.

After I had healed, however, (which took about two days) I was able to convince Toriel to let me go after the human that had fallen before me. I had spent some time sifting through Toriel's memories (though I didn't feel good about it) and I had found the time she had read about the prophecy of a black soul.

_"If the angel falls and acts without sorrow,  
The demon with a black heart is soon to follow."_

-

"Take care of yourself, my child." Toriel hugged me and I awkwardly hugged her back in an effort to be polite, quickly making sure to leave her memories when prompted to enter. When she let go of me I stepped backwards towards the door; Toriel smiled sadly and turned around, walking away. I looked after her until she turned the corner and then I faced the towering door behind me.

I gingerly placed a hand on the door, which was cold to the touch, and pushed. As I opened the door cold wind worked against me and blew snow into the hallway. Eventually I was able to open it enough to get outside and shut the door behind me. For a moment I leaned against the door and surveyed the area. Snow, trees, and a clear-cut path. I pushed myself off the door and started walking.

After passing what looked like many failed attempts at puzzles and traps, a few sentry stations, and an alarming amount of snow dogs, I walked into a town. Judging by the big "Welcome to Snowdin" sign, I figured the place was called Snowdin. I had noticed that everywhere I had been was desolate, but it didn't really have an effect on me until I walked into the town. It looked like it should've been busy, but was completely abandoned. As I walked on I noticed small piles of what looked to be ashes on the ground. I didn't think anything of them until I accidentally stepped in one.

Upon feeling that suspended-in-air feeling I knew I had found someone's memories. I viewed the first one and soon regretted it.

_"Come on, dude! We gotta hurry if we're gonna catch Undyne fighting the human!" It sounded like a kid's voice._

_"I know, I know, I'm coming." The child bounced impatiently as their older sibling walked over to them._

_"Alright, let's go!" The kid exclaimed, taking off in a run that was quickly stopped by them tripping and falling onto their face. They jumped back up and started running again, only this time they bumped into someone._

_"Yo, sorry dude!..." The young monster looked up to see a human weilding a knife. The child couldn't do anything before the human lunged at them, and the child screamed out before the memory abruptly ended._

I pulled myself out of the kid's mind and opened my eyes to see the toe of my boot in one of the ash-like piles. I looked up from it to see more piles of ash scattered around the town. I gently pulled my foot out of the ashes I had stepped in, silently apologized to it, and continued walking. As I walked and encountered more ash piles with similar memories, an idea started to form. However my planning was cut off by a familiar tingle running up my spine. I stopped in place, tensed up, and waited.

"H u m a n ." I heard the voice behind me that I had been waiting for, and turned around. A skeleton wearing a puffy blue jacket stared back at me.

"What are you doing here." He said gruffly, his question sounding more like a statement. I looked at him blankly, unsure of what to say.

"I said, what are you doing here?!" The skeleton's left pupil started glowing a light blue, and his hand came out of his pocket with magic ready to attack. The ensuring fight caused my soul to appear, and the skeleton was caught off guard when he saw it.

"What the...?" He narrowed his eyesockets at me and his hand lowered some as he looked at my soul. He looked up at my face briefly before his magic subsided completely.

"You're not the same human." He said to the air. I just looked at him, maintaining the same relaxed aura and straight face I had beforehand.

"My name's Sans." The skeleton took a more relaxed tone and put out his hand for me to shake, which I did but avoided going into his memories to be polite.

"Come with me, kid." Sans started walking toward a house and I followed him cautiously, watching as he went behind the building and cleared snow off a trapdoor-like mechanism and opened it. He climbed in and ushered me to follow him, closing the hatch behind me when I did so.

"Stay here for a sec." Sans walked across the room and started rummaging through some drawers, and I took the opportunity to survey the room. I noticed a large machine covered by a sheet in one corner, some blueprints, and other science-related things scattered across countertops and posted on walls.

"Here we go." Sans turned around and walked back over to me with a book in hand. He stopped a few steps away and opened the book, skimming through it. He hummed triumphantly when he found what he was looking for, and showed the book to me while pointing out a passage. 

"If the angel falls a-"

"-nd acts without sorrow, The demon with a black heart is soon to follow." I finished the quote without needing to look at the book.

Sans's usual grin grew wider, "So you know."

I nodded. "Now what?" Sans shrugged and motioned for me to follow him, and we left his basement-lab-room. I looked at him blankly, waiting for him to say something, but when he turned back around his demeanor had changed. 

"I'll see ya around kid." He walked off and turned the corner of his house, and when I walked back out to the main road he was gone. I trudged forward through the snow, viewing the occasional memory of a dead monster. I knew I could change things; I could bring them all back, yet I had a strange feeling about it. The farther through the town I progressed, the worse I felt about not doing anything.

Eventually I left the town area and entered a part of the forest that carried an icy fog to it. It was hard to see, and everything was white except for a spot of blue and red somewhere in front of me. I walked up to it and I found Sans, on his knees, clutching something to his chest.

"I'm so sorry ... I couldn't save you ... Didn't deserve it..." I could make out little bits and pieces of what he was saying, but as I neared him he became quiet. Wordlessly I put a hand on his shoulder, and then kneeled down next to him. I gingerly reached out to the red cloth he was holding and laid my hand on it, letting myself be transported to the dream world.

As I skimmed through memories I learned that I was in the mind of a skeleton named Papyrus, who was Sans's younger brother. I watched as Papyrus saw the recently fallen human kill civilians, one after another, and Papyrus tried to stop the human with traps and puzzles. Though he acted upbeat and enthusiastic, I could feel that Papyrus knew what was going on despite his child-like maturity. I accessed the most recent memory in his mind, Papyrus's fight with the human, where in his dying breaths he kept saying that he believed in the human and that it's not too late for them to change. I backed out and stared at the lines of memories in front of me, processing the information I was absorbing. Eventually, I went back into the last memory and started to change things.

I had never actually changed any memories before, despite Toriel trying to convince me to practice on her- I had felt it wrong to alter her mind and life with no good reason. After some exploration I discovered that by using both Papyrus's knowledge and memories with my own, I could take each person and bring them back in both his mind and real life. One by one I fixed the damage that the other human had dealt until every person in Snowdin was alive again and I was feeling like I was fading from Papyrus's mind. Using the last of my energy I brought Papyrus back as well, building him up from the dust (as I had learned monster remains were called) on the ground and reforming the bones that were his body. I repaired his soul, taking the shattered heart and delicately putting it back together, until I realized new memories were registering in his mind and I knew he was alive.

When I opened my eyes again I saw a little dot of crimson red in the snow below me, and I looked up to see a crowd of people staring at me; I must have brought them back right there. Over to my right were Sans and Papyrus, who had seemingly moved away some. I realized I still held Papyrus's scarf in my hand, which I folded neatly and offered out to him from my spot on my knee. Papyrus cautiously reached out and took the scarf, and I stood up and glanced at all the monsters that were looking at me. There were a few whispers I could hear but other than that it was silent as I turned around and walked away without a word.

When I coughed into my hands and saw blood I smiled.


	2. T w o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for self harm?

I must have passed out somewhere, because the next thing I knew I wasn't in Snowdin anymore. Looking around, I wasn't even in that forest. The far off sound of rushing water and the occasional drip accompanied what seemed like fifteen different shades of blue, from rock walls to flowers. I stood up and stretched, making my way to where I saw a small puddle. Kneeling down beside it and looking at my reflection, I smirked at the dried blood that covered the lower half of my face. I admired the ripples that formed in the pond as I dipped my fingers in, rubbing the water on myself to start getting the blood off.

As I was scrubbing the last of the blood off, I heard a voice.

"Yo! You're the human that saved us, right?!" Quick footsteps followed the voice that I quickly recognized to be the kid who was one of the first to die.

"Saved isn't the right word, I don't think." I said, trying to make my normal monotone sound gentler. My hands fell to my knees and I dried them on my jeans while looking over at the approaching monster.

"You totally saved us! I don't know how you did it but you were on one knee and holding that scarf and stuff and monsters just appeared!" The kid bounced excitedly as he spoke, his eyes gleaming.

' _You didn't save them from dying_.' The normal pessimistic voice in the back of my head whispered, but I did my best just to give the kid a smile. I stood up, wiping the last few droplets of water off my face, and looked down at the young monster.

"Where are we?" I asked him. Either there wasn't a big flashy sign outside or I didn't remember it, so I figured it good to know the name of the place.

"We're in Waterfall! I came here to see if I could find Undyne, but I found you instead!" I found myself walking alongside the child as they talked, and learned all about who Undyne was. Though the kid's enthusiasm hadn't lessened, their voice quieted to a more normal level as time passed. Which proved to be a very good thing, because as the kid was wanting to show me Undyne's house I heard something in the distance.

I used one hand to pull the kid around the corner of the house and the other I ended up slapping onto his mouth to shut him up. He looked up at me with wide eyes and I took the hand off his mouth, holding up a finger to tell him to be quiet. As I listened I put my arm in front of him as if to block him from something that wasn't there. After thirty seconds or so I heard the slow methodical tapping of footsteps which went up to the door of the home, stopped, and then left. I glanced around the corner as the steps became fainter and recognized the human that had killed so many of the monsters before they disappeared from my sight.

"Can I talk now?" I heard the kid whisper from next to me. I nodded solemnly and the next thing I knew the kid had burst out from the side of the house and was bouncing around, excited again.

"Dude! That was so cool! You totally ..." The kid went on to restate everything from the last minute and how cool it was, while I took the opportunity to look in the side window of Undyne's house. The lights were off and everything was in order, no signs of anyone having entered for at least a few hours.

"Do me a favor." I said, interrupting the kid and putting his spiel to a stop.

I turned around to face him, "What's the fastest way to get back to Snowdin?" An 'I can show you!' was followed by our back tracking the way we had come, and the kid ended up sitting on my shoulders so we could move faster.

"Would you let my enter your memories?" I asked as we walked.

He gasped excitedly, "Yeah!" I closed my eyes and willed the familiar fade from reality to his mind, not bothering to stop walking; it would only take a moment of real time to accomplish what I wanted.

I looked into the unhappy memory that was this kid's death, focusing on one thing- the knife the other human had. I realized I couldn't take it away from them completely as that would require a tremendous change in what happened in Snowdin, so I swapped to a different memory where the kid had seen a kitchen knife and focused on that instead. I saw the knife and willed it into my hand, and I took a moment to learn that the monster kid didn't actually have a name, he was just called 'kid' or 'MK'.

"So when are you gonna do it?" I heard as soon as I came back.

"I already did." I replied, causing MK to go on another 'that's so cool' tangent from his spot on my shoulders.

The farther we walked and the closer we came, it started to get colder. I took a deep breath and loosened all my muscles for a moment, letting the cold sink into me so that it didn't seem as strong. Soon we were back in the ice-mist area, and I realized that the other human may have gotten there before us.

' _Shit, this kid might see everyone he knows and loves dead._ ' I myself was steeled to those sort of things, but the seven year old on my shoulders wasn't. I swallowed back my thoughts as the mist cleared up and Snowdin came into view. Both to my surprise and relief everything seemed normal- people were milling around and talking like nothing was wrong and there wasn't a serial killer on the loose.

"Alright, where do you live, Kid?" I asked him, slowing down my pace some. He started steering me in the right direction but we weren't actually there when we ran into his older sibling. I hoisted him off my shoulders and put him down on the ground, watching as he ran to his sister and she hugged him. Once they were together I blended in with the crowds and made my way back to Waterfall- I was going to catch that other human. When I was back in the empty mist that was the boundary between Snowdin and Waterfall, I took the knife out of the pocket I was keeping it in and held it so I could use it if I needed too.

After following the path I had come from and walking aimlessly around Waterfall, I decided I had lost the other human. I sighed and sat down on a rock, running a hand through my hair. My eyes caught the glint of the knife and I let in rest in both hands, studying it. I held it a few different ways and looked closely at the blade, finally taking the knife and pressing it against my arm to test the sharpness. It took more pressure than I would've liked the split the skin, so I took the knife and started scraping it against the rock in an effort to sharpen it.

"oh........ i didn't think there'd be anyone here............" Looking over to my right I saw a ghost floating a few feet away.

"oh..... you're not going to try to hurt me too, are you........?" The ghost's eyes landed on my knife, and I shook my head. I stood up and put the knife in my pocket, approaching the ghost. I held out an empty hand to them.

"hello........ my name's Napstablook.........." They said, and a small bit of ectoplasm reached out and was put into my hand. I held on to Napstablook's 'hand' and bowed, taking my left leg and crossing it behind my right as I did so.

"oh........." Napstablook's sad expression brightened a little.

"one moment........." Napstablook started crying, and the tears traveled to my hip. I looked down and saw that they had cried me a holster for my knife. I reached down and touched it, then took the knife out of my pocket and put it in the holster.

"No way..." I grinned and looked up at Napstablook, and they smiled a little.

"Thank you." I glanced down at the holster again, "how long will it last?"

"until you don't want it anymore..... you squeeze it hard enough and it will break........ but i could always make you another if you wanted.......... or not............." Napstablook looked to the side and I saw a bit of myself in them.

"I love it." I reassured them. I chatted with Napstablook for a little bit and we went our separate ways; but when they left I wasn't exactly sure where to go. After wandering around for a few minutes I found a sign that pointed me in what I assumed was the right direction. I walked east for what felt like hours but eventually I came to a part in the cave where I heard voices.

"I won't... Die... I won't..." The voice echoed along with some other sounds I wasn't certain of, and I started jogging to where it was coming from. I turned a corner and stopped, my right hand on Napstablook's holster, and looked around- but it seemed I was too late. There was no human, and a pile of dust. I ran to the end of the cavern, jumping over the dust, and looked down the next path; but there was nothing. I sighed and turned back around, walking up to the dust and getting down on one knee. I laid my hand on it.

I worked from the most recent memory backwards, from their death to the events that lead up to it. My heart sank when I realized that this was Undyne, who was apparently the underground's greatest warrior. Before Undyne's fight with the human she had seen the dust of many monsters around Waterfall that I had never seen, and I saw her talking with another monster named Alphys about evacuating the monsters in a place called Hotland. I worked to ressurect all the monsters from Waterfall that had died and I did Undyne last; the same way I had with Papyrus and all the monsters in Snowdin.

When I exited Undyne's mind I found that I was pinned to the ground, someone's foot on my chest. Opening my eyes I saw it was Undyne herself, spear in hand and pointed at my neck.

"Who are you?" She growled and pushed her boot down on my chest harder, triggering a series of coughs from me. I turned my head to the side so that I didn't choke on the blood that I knew I would cough up- there was a lot of it this time. When I looked back at Undyne I saw that her expression has shifted some, but she didn't let up.

"Answer me."

"I'm not your enemy. I want to help you." I choked out through the blood that was building in the back of my throat. I shifted uncomfortably and felt that my shirt was wet and sticking to my arm.

"How can I trust you?" Undyne asked, glaring. I reached down and took my knife out, holding the blade and offering it to her. She looked at me cautiously and took one hand off her spear, taking the knife and sliding it across the floor away from me.

"Any other weapons?" She asked and I shook my head, trying to swallow back some blood and ending up coughing it up. Undyne took her foot off my chest and I promptly flipped onto my hands and knees, coughing and spitting out blood onto the floor. Undyne moved to my left and leaned against her spear.

"Thanks." My voice was horse but I kept my normal expressionless complexion.

"What are you doing here?" Undyne continued her interrogation though I didn't blame her- not only was it her job to do this but the last human she encountered killed her.

"I've been following the other human and bringing every monster they kill back to life." I answered honestly but didn't expect her to believe me- humans normally weren't able to do the things I could.

"Oh really?" Just as I expected Undyne smirked and pushed herself off her spear, readying it again.

"Ask Papyrus."

She froze, and then glared at me. "Don't you say shit about him."

"Really; call him up. I'm sure he'd be glad to talk to you. You guys need to schedule your next training session, right?" The fact that I was saying all this with a blank look and monotone voice to someone who was very dangerous and pissed off definitely wasn't my greatest idea, but I didn't exactly have any other emotion. I wasn't scared- My antagonizing was strategic. I knew she'd challenge me and end up calling him, and when he'd answer she'd be stunned as she thought he was dead. But if that didn't work out, it was just their loss- I wouldn't be there to help them anymore. I wasn't afraid of dying.

My plan worked. Undyne pulled a phone out of seemingly nowhere and called him, even putting it on speakerphone. But when the ringing was cut off by a lively "Hey Undyne!" her jaw dropped.

"Paps?" Undyne quickly took the phone off speaker and put it to her ear, though this didn't stop me from hearing what Papyrus said.

"Yes?"

"I thought you were dead!" Undyne turned around and started pacing, totally forgetting I was there.

"Well, technically, I was. But then a nice human came and revived everyone! I haven't seen them since though..." As Papyrus said that Undyne turned back to me and looked at me.

"What were they wearing?" Undyne asked him while staring me down. I looked right back at her.

"Some sort of plaid flannel, I think... And boots and black jeans." I heard Papyrus's muffled voice describe my outfit through the phone and Undyne huffed.

"Thanks." She hung up on him and walked over to me.

"Revival, huh?" I had to crane my neck to look up at her so instead I just stood up. As I stood a rush of blood went to my head and the next thing I knew blood was running down my face again.

"He wouldn't lie to you." I replied calmly, wiping some of the blood away and looking at my hand afterwards. Undyne's phone rang again and she answered it without even checking who it was.

"Also Sans says they had a black soul." Papyrus said and Undyne narrowed her eyes at me.

"A black soul?" She asked skeptically.

There was a fainter voice who I assumed was Sans, "Saw it myself." Again Undyne hung up, but this time she stepped back and formed an energy spear in her hand.

"Let's test that theory, shall we?" She grinned menacingly and I felt the buzz in my chest as my soul floated out. The feeling almost distracted me from when Undyne threw a spear at me, but I was able to step out of the way. I pinched the black heart between my fingers and held it out to show it to her. As I grabbed it and looked at it myself, I noticed something; it was cracked. Undyne's eyes flicked from my own to my soul and she looked at it for a few seconds before she decided it was okay.

"Still doesn't explain how you apparently brought monsters back to life. Or, come to think of it, why it didn't show up when I had a spear to your throat." She muttered.

"My ability to revive isn't actual revival. What I do is access memories. Once inside a monster's mind I can make changes to their memories; the changes pertain to real life as well. By using a monster's memories and knowledge with my own I can make those changes, whether it be pertaining to a person or an object. That's how I brought you back to life, and it's how I got ahold of the knife I've been carrying." As I spoke I rolled up my shirt sleeve and looked at the cut I had made earlier with the knife- it had become wider and deeper and was bleeding at a constant rate, soaking my sleeve. I rolled up the other sleeve to match.

"Why were you coughing up blood earlier?" Undyne asked, eyeing the gash on my arm.

"It seems that when I make big changes, like making a town full of dead people alive again, it takes a toll on me physically." I shrugged and looked up at her, and she met my gaze.

"Wait, so how does it work?" I held out a blood soaked hand and it was met by the cool touch of her armour as she gave me hers.

My eyes flickered shut and when I 'opened' them I scanned through her memories. I settled on the last time she was in her home. I skipped through the memory pretty quickly, finding what I wanted and then leaving. When I came back to the real world I could tell Undyne was uncomfortable with our elongated contact. Pulling my hand out of hers, I looked down and pulled the dagger I had taken out of Napstablook's holster.

"Recognize this?" I spun the dagger between my fingers and held it out to her. She took it from my hands and and studied it for a moment.

"Damn." She look up at me, "so is this gone from my house now?"

"I don't know. I've never been able to check. You go ahead and keep it; I've got that." I pointed to the knife that was across the room.

"That dull kitchen knife?" Undyne raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged, walking over and picking it up.

"It works..." I looked at it and pressed the tip of the blade against my finger. Nothing happened.

"If you're actually working with us, then it's my duty to help you. Come on." Undyne started walking off and waved for me to come with her. Shoving the knife into my holster, I followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr at 'zivicio'
> 
> I know that this moves really fast and isn't that well paced, and I also have too many problems with writer's block to fix it.
> 
> Feel free to let me know if there are any spelling/grammar errors, I do go over everything I write but I do miss things sometimes.
> 
> Constructive criticism is very welcomed, I love to know how I can become a better writer!


	3. T h r e e

"Thank you for trusting me. I know it's not easy for you." I said, looking up at Undyne as she wrapped gauze around my arm. She didn't say anything in return, just got up and left the room, coming back a minute later with a box.

"Take your pick." She opened the box and I stood up so I could see inside it. I raised an eyebrow at the amount of weapons there were, but stuck a hand in there nonetheless. After looking through them for a few minutes, I settled on a dagger similar to the one of hers I had taken earlier.

"You got another one of these?" I asked, taking my head out of the box and showing the dagger to her.

She nodded, "Probably in there somewhere." After some more digging and trying not to cut up my hands I found another dagger like the first one. I stepped back and looked at them.

"You sure you're okay just giving me these?" I lowered the daggers and looked at Undyne.

"Yeah, look at all the weapons I've got." She motioned to the box in the table, "I've got more than I'll probably ever use."

"If you say so. Now I just need to ask Napstablook for another holster. Also," I walked over to the silverware drawer where I had taken the dagger out of her memory, "we never checked on this." I pulled the same dagger from before out of the drawer and held it up.

"Huh. Looks like it stayed after all." Undyne said as she picked up the box of weapons. I put the dagger back in the drawer and grabbed the two I had picked from the box off the table. I took one of them and pricked my fingertip with it, smiling for a second as a small bubble of blood formed.

"You cleaned all that blood off yourself and now you're adding more? You've already lost a decent amount." I looked up at Undyne who was leaning against the doorframe of her room and I shrugged.

"Just a pinprick." I held up my finger for her to see.

"I'm starting to think you're a masochist."

-

I knocked on the door, holding my hands behind my back patiently. After thirty seconds or so the door opened and I was face to face with a ghost.

"Hey, Napstablook. Can I come in?" I bounced on the balls of my feet subconsciously.

"oh... hey......... yeah, sure............." Napstablook opened the door fully so I could step in, and I accidentally brushed him with my shoulder.

"Oh, sorry." I spun around and apologized.

"....it's okay....... so what can i do for you.........."

"Well, I have a question and a favor to ask. One, how durable is the holster and could I take it off and reattatch it, and two, could you make me another one if you can? You don't have to, but if you did I'd pay you back of course." I tried to make my normal deadpan a little softer so Napstablook would feel more comfortable.

"oh...... well the holster won't break unless you put enough pressure on it, so....... i guess you could......... and i can make you another one if you want.........." Napstablook awkwardly shuffled around and avoided making eye contact. I started fiddling with my current holster, and out of my peripherals saw tears starting to form in the ghosts eyes.

"Hold on, wait a second. Let me try something really quick..." I unattached the holster from my belt and studied the clip on it. "Do you think I could take this off and switch it around? Oh wait, pff, never mind I'm dumb, go ahead." Napstablook looked confused but didn't say anything as they started working on the new holster.

"Hey thanks for this, if there's anything I can do to return the favor let me know." I looked up from my waist to Napstablook.

"oh......... it's no problem........ you don't have to do anything............" They trailed off.

"It's only fair." Napstablook didn't respond so I continued. "You don't need to think of anything now, but if you need something just let me know okay? I'm happy to help you out." Napstablook looked up at me as they finished the construction of the holster.

"well........... there's one thing i guess........... but you don't have to................"

"What is it?" I cocked my head and put the second dagger in the new holster.

"would you.... lay on the floor with me....... if you want to..... you don't have to........." Napstablook rubbed their little ghost hands together nervously.

"Sure thing bud." I sat down on the wood floor and immediately noticed how drained I was. Though I had been unconscious multiple times in the time I was in the underground, my body was exhausted from all the memory interventions. I laid on my back and folded my hands under my head as a pillow. I felt Napstablook float down to the ground beside me.

Just as I was drifting off, I noticed the room started to change around me. Napstablook's house faded out and was replaced by what looked like space- stars and galaxies and such spun around. At first I thought I was hallucinating and blinked a few times; Napstablook must have noticed.

"you see it...?" They asked softly.

I nodded, "Is that real?" And then they nodded. I stared into the abyss, and I couldn't help my most genuine smile in years from forming on my face.

"Wow." My voice cracked I whispered so softly, like I was afraid I would shatter the image.

"it's a family tradition....."

"That's one hell of a tradition."

I ended up falling asleep.

When I woke up, Napstablook was at their computer. "Oh shit, sorry I fell asleep. I guess my body's pretty worn out." I said sitting up. Napstablook jumped, the sound of my voice startling them.

"oh..... it's okay...... i don't mind......" I got a glimpse of Napstablook's computer screen as I stood up.

"You like music? That's pretty cool." Napstablook looked between me and their computer a few times.

"oh...... thanks......."

"I got to run, got a serial killer to catch and all, but let me know if you want to hang out again some time. I'll try not to fall asleep." I headed towards the door, putting my hand on the handle and twisting it but not opening it.

"uh..... sure........." Napstablook looked around a little awkwardly.

"Have a good one." I left the little ghost to their music and put my mind back into serious mode- now was not the time to soften up.

' _We both know what happens then_.' The asshole in the back of my mind added onto my thought. I rolled my eyes and make quick work of getting to Hotland.

Like Snowdin, there was a huge flashing sign saying "Welcome to Hotland" on it to let me know where I was. I turned a corner and the blue of Waterfall changed to orange, the water into lava.

"Hey." I heard and looked to where it came from, seeing Sans on my left. I walked over to him.

"How you doing, kid?" Sans asked.

"I'm fine. How are things? Papyrus doing okay after everything? Are you okay after all that?" I had had no word on either of the skeletons since I resuscitated Snowdin.

Sans shrugged, "Paps is good. He's trying to figure out how to find you, though. He wants to thank you." I knew Sans was dodging my question about him but I said nothing, respecting his privacy.

"Maybe I can visit him after all this business is over with." I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "Do you know anything about what's going on around here?"

"In Hotland? No, not really. I only got back from my break a few minutes ago." Sans winked at me. "Hey, what happened to your arm?" His pupils focused on the bloodied gauze wrapped around my left forearm.

"Eh, it's complicated." I shrugged waving it off, but Sans looked at me like 'oh really now' so I continued talking. "I originally made a small incision to test out the sharpness of a (very dull) knife, and when I brought back to life the dead in Waterfall it turned into a big gash." I pulled out my right dagger and fiddled with it subconsciously.

Sans gave me a look, "Be careful out there, kid." I shrugged.

"There are more important things to worry about."

I continued on my own, shortly coming across a large building with the word "LAB" on it. Though there two pathways to my left and right, I continued straight ahead to the building; I could swear I heard noises coming from it. Pressing my ear against the metal doors, I heard a muffled mechanical voice.

"Oh. There you are. You ugly little creature. You've made quite a name for yourself..." I leaned away and looked around before listening again. "...If you're looking for Alphys, she's not here. While you were busy doing your, ahem, thing, she was running around evacuating people to safety. Now they're in a place you'll never get to them!"

I stepped back and turned around, surveying my surroundings once more. To my right was a small pathway that dead ended into a river, and to my left was another pathway that turned a corner. I went over to the left one, but as I approached, a blue laser came into view. Shit.

Jogging back over to the lab, I could hear the voice from earlier still speaking but I couldn't make out what it said without being pressed against the door. I pushed against the doors with my shoulder, tried to get my fingers in between them, nothing. I took out the two daggers and shoved them in between the doors, pushing in opposite directions, but I wasn't strong enough. That's when I noticed the voice had stopped.

' _I'm too late_.'

"Fuck!" I growled in frustration with a complementary punch to the doors, tensing up when I heard a chuckle from behind me.

"Wow, kid, that's the most emotion I've ever seen you show." Sans said with his usual grin.

"I'm gonna kick that little shit's ass out of time-space continuum; can I access your memories?" I replied, briskly walking over to him and hovering my hand above his shoulder.

"Sure thing kid, go for it. I've wanted to see what all the fuss was about anyway."

As soon as I got the okay I dropped my hand on to his shoulder. ' _Oh, you saw that laser on? Nope, now it's off_.' I pulled out of his memories, throwing a quick "thanks" over my shoulder as I ran off to the previously inaccessible area. Seeing it led to an elevator I got in to it and pressed a random button, which was apparently 'L3'. As I regained my composure I glanced down at my arm and saw that the bloodstain on the gauze was growing larger.

' _Great_.'

I stepped out of the elevator to find the place silent. Eerie. There was what looked like a puzzle that was already completed, and following that a few turns led me to a hallway filled with cobwebs. I mumbled and moved forward, and the cobwebs became full blown sticky spider webs. Pulling out my daggers I started cutting through some of them to make my walking easier, silently apologizing to whatever monster's home I was probably currently destroying. I almost completely missed to pile of dust in the dead center of the hallway.

I followed what had become my normal routine, getting on one knee and softly touching the dust with my hand. I skimmed through the most recent memories, still not wanting to invade too much personal space; I quickly learned that the lack of monsters wasn't caused by their deaths but rather their evacuation. That's when I remembered what I had heard the voice in the Lab say, 'While you were busy doing your thing she evactuated everybody'.

' _Congratulations you finally managed to put two and two together, fucking moron_.' If I could roll my eyes I would've.

After some quick fiddling in the memories I brought the spider (whose name I learned was Muffet) back to life, and in a different location so I could continue moving.

It didn't take long to exit the spiderweb-hallway, and upon doing so I came across a stage of some sort. After that there was a four-way intersection, and I briefly explored each path before taking the stairs up. I was faced with a large building, with fancy architecture and the letters MTT on the front. When I walked inside I noticed the broken fountain, and the fact that the place was almost completely empty. Almost.

"Welcome to the MTT-Brand Burger Emporium...!" Said the cat-like monster when I approached him.

I stared at him for a moment, "Um. You do know what's going on, right?" He stayed quiet, "The evacuation?"

"Evacuation? Like I said to the other one, yo-" I cut him off, putting my hands on the countertop and leaning towards him.

"Other one?" The cat monster, whose name tag I saw said Burgerpants, not-so-subtly leaned away from me. "The other human passed through here?" Burgerpants nodded and pointed towards the back door, looking at me oddly. I huffed a quick 'thanks' and left the hotel.

The orange light of the hotel faded into the blue light of a new area, one that I quickly saw was very technologically advanced when I went inside. The puzzles there were already solved, security systems turned off, so despite the place's horrid layout I was able to make my way through rather quickly.

Once again the color scheme changed, now from blue to grey - intricate painting adorned one of the walls, an image of a city. A little farther along there was a house with a plaque above the door that said "New Home", and upon looking inside the place I realized that it was the same layout at Toriel's home in the ruins.

I could make out the dusty footprints of a child, scattered on the floor. I followed the tracks to a room, a child's - though this room was fit for two children rather than one. On the floor were two gift-wrapped boxes, both opened and empty; dust on them, from both time and the human before me. I left the room and, with a bad feeling, opted for going straight downstairs rather than exploring the place. At the very end of a long hallway there was a bit more artwork, an elevator door, and to my right, an entrance - yellow-orange light poured through windows and into a long, fancy looking corridor.

I stood at the end of the hall, taking in the scene before me; the other human, and Sans, were facing each other. Bones were scattered, sticking out of the walls and floor, and when Sans saw me for a brief moment he gave the smallest nod. He looked tired, and his shoulders heaved, every move an effort. It was then that the other human hit him. A single slash across his chest and he was down, and despite my distance I could've sworn there was something red leaking from the wound. His smile to the human widened, and he said something inaudible before getting up and limping away.

The child sank down to the floor, the grip on the knife in their hand loosening ever so slightly. I moved. I walked toward the child, and kneeled down in front of them. Tears pricked at their eyes and it was obvious they were in pain, but their expression was quickly replaced by one of malice. I reached up to put my hand on their shoulder when, in a last-ditch effort of violence, the knife in their hand went into my stomach.

I looked down at the blade handle sticking out of my abdomen and laughed - actually laughed. For some reason, whether it be how tired I was or my lack of blood or some other reason, it didn't hurt. I just looked back up at the child, who was staring at me, and grinned, placing my hand on their shoulder and squeezing.

In the memories, I saw everything. From the moment they first fell into the Underground and everything since. I watched, and as they - Frisk - progressed, I changed the scenarios. Every act of violence became one of mercy, and Frisk kept control of their body rather then Chara overriding it. I set it so everything made sense, the townspeople alive because Chara never hurt them, the outcome of battles to opportunities of friendship.

However, I was hyperaware of my situation - I was losing blood at a dangerous rate, and my grip on the memories was fading fast. So, in my last act, I only exited Frisk's mind, solidifying the changes I had made.

Reality had been changed; Frisk never earned any EXP. Frisk never fought Sans.

When I woke up next, I was greeted by a familiar feeling of being suspended in air - though I could move more than just my arms. Everything was black, yet everything was visible. I was quickly cut down from my position, and I turned around to face the being that did so.

" **Greetings. Welcome to the void.** " Something, a monster, I assumed, said to me. Their mouth never moved, they were using sign language, but I could hear a voice nonetheless.

" **You have made a mistake, human.** " The monster said. I cocked my head.

" **When you made your new reality, you never made yourself a place in it - therefore erasing yourself from existence. You're stuck here now.** " The monster had a look on their face that seemed to be pity, but I just smiled.

"Oh, no," I chuckled, " _That wasn't a mistake._ "


	4. F o u r

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I felt like a lot of this story wouldn't make sense to readers; in my mind I have everything figured out, but in the writing there's a lot that's unclear. It looks like plotholes, and it's something I want to fix. So, here's a little something in Gaster's point of view(?) Hopefully it clears some things up. Let me know if there's anything else I can fix!

** ENTRY NUMBER #&*% **

 

**THIS HUMAN, THE PATH THEY'VE FOLLOWED - IT'S RATHER... INTERESTING.**

**THEIR UNIQUE SOUL ALLOWS THEM ABILITIES I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.**

**THIS, 'MEMORY ACCESS,' AS THEY'VE DEEMED IT, IS MORE THAN JUST ALTERING MINDS - WHICH IS AN INCREDIBLE FEAT ON IT'S OWN.**

**THEY CAN CHANGE REALITIES.**

**AS THEY VENTURED THROUGH THE UNDERGROUND, EVERY CHANGE SEEMED TO MAKE A NEW, ALTERNATE, UNIVERSE.**

**AS THEY PROGRESSED, OUR REALITY WAS COPIED, REWORKED, AND MADE ANEW, THEN BECOMING THE TRUE REALITY.**

**SOMETHING THAT STANDS OUT TO ME IS THE HUMAN'S ERASURE OF THEMSELF.**

**AT THE TIME OF THEIR DEATH, THEY HAD LOST SO MUCH BLOOD THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN FULLY COMPREHENSIVE AND LOGICAL.**

**WHEN MORTALLY WOUNDED, THEY DID NOT EVEN FLINCH.**

**YET THAT DOES NOT EXPLAIN HOW THEY MADE THEIR FINAL ADAPTIONS SO SUCCESSFULLY.**

**THEY HAVE GRANTED ME PERMISSION TO INSPECT THEM, RUN TESTS ON THEM, EXPERIMENT WITH THEM; THOUGH EVERY TIME I ASK ABOUT THEIR FINAL CHOICE THEY EITHER AVOID THE QUESTION OR GIVE ME THE SAME ANSWER.**

**'IT WASN'T A MISTAKE.'**

 

**|**

 

**ENTRY NUMBER # &*$**

 

 

**THE ONLY PROGRESSION I'VE MADE IN MY EXPERIMENTS WITH THE HUMAN IS LEARNING MORE ABOUT THEIR ANATOMY.**

**HOWEVER I HAVE ALSO LEARNED THAT THEY ARE SMARTER THAN THEY COME ACROSS AS.**

**ONE DAY, AS I WORKED, THEY SPOKE UP - A RARE OCCURRENCE. THEY SAID THEY THINK THEY KNOW WHY THEY ARE HERE. IN THE VOID.**

**'WHEN I WAS ALIVE, AND IN THE UNDERGROUND, MY SOUL AND BODY WERE THE SAME ENTITY. BUT WHEN I DIED... I DON'T THINK I ACTUALLY DIED. MY BODY, MY LIFE, THAT DIED, YES; BUT MY SOUL DID NOT. MY SOUL... I THINK I FINALIZED MY CHANGES BEFORE MY SOUL WAS DESTROYED. I NEVER GAVE MYSELF A PLACE IN THE MODIFIED REALITY - YOU KNOW THAT - BUT MY SOUL STILL EXISTED. AND IT'S HERE, I'M HERE, NOW, IN THE VOID; BECAUSE THIS IS THE FABRIC OF TIME AND SPACE. THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, THE TRUE UNIVERSE, THAT I CREATED... IT'S OUT HERE. THIS IS WHAT CONNECTS EVERYTHING. EVERY REALITY, EVERY UNIVERSE.'**

**I TURNED AROUND TO THEM, AND THEY WERE STARING AT ME; HEAD COCKED, NO MOVEMENT AGAINST THE TABLE I HAD THEM STRAPPED AGAINST.**

**I TOLD THEM THAT WAS AN INTERESTING THOUGHT, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING I ALREADY KNEW - THOUGH THEY WERE VERY INTELLIGENT TO FIGURE THAT OUT ON THEIR OWN.**

**BUT THEN THEY GOT A CERTAIN LOOK ON THEIR FACE, ONE I KNOW ALL TOO WELL - THE ONE I SEE EVERY TIME I ASK WHY THEY NEVER SAVED THEMSELVES.**

**'BUT THERE'S ONE THING. IF EVERYTHING I JUST SAID IS TRUE, IF I AM MY OWN REINCARNATION, I AM MY SOUL...**

**THEN WHY DON'T I HAVE MY ABILITIES?'**

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr @zivicio
> 
> Feel free to let me know if there are any spelling/grammar errors, I do go over everything I write but I also miss things sometimes.
> 
> Constructive criticism is very welcomed, I love to know how I can become a better writer!  
> Thanks for reading!


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